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No! I do not want a taxi... |
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Lusaka is looking lush and green as February draws to a close. The days are generally overcast, although the rain is scattered and periodic, unlike earlier in the rainy season.
For the most part I have been hotel-bound with both accommodation and conference taking place in the Protea Hotel on the outskirts of Lusaka. But did manage to go for a walk into town (about 50 minutes hard walking – one way) on the Saturday we arrived - and again today (Wednesday). I also got to meet the president, Rupiah Banda and visit the market in Lusaka (just before it closed) as well as the University of Zambia on Tuesday afternoon.
The city streets are kept remarkably clean, but the pavements are patchy and generally in poor repair – and muddy when it rains. Bicycles are common and most people seem to be able to cycle through the traffic with one hand on the handle bar and the other holding a cell phone to their ear – chatting merrily.
Traffic is generally quiet off-peak, but surprisingly congested during business hours.
On walkabouts it was almost automatically assumed that a white woman would not want to walk, and must obviously need a taxi … which saw me regularly bombarded with calls of taxi – of varying degrees of insistence. Generally one indication of decline was enough – sometimes more.
The people are generally curious and friendly, but the odd individual can become a nuisance. I fairly quickly learnt to follow my intuition regarding who to respond to and who not – but found myself at times feeling rather annoyed that I had to be rude – and blatantly ignore people, acting as if they did not exist – in order not to be harassed.
Zambians are a lot like the Malawians and don’t like to have their photos taken – well at least not without being paid; some even tried to tell me that it was illegal to take photos in Zimbabwe and that I need a licence to do so … please!
I watched an interesting incident in the market yesterday – where one person took exception to the camera and our guide told him off and the two started shouting at each other, even gathering a crowd - with the crowd making an attempt to control the two – the strange thing was that it didn’t seem real. They were reacting without any real feeling of anger and animosity; it was all posturing.
Lusaka is strangely vibrant for a small city; filled with people, from hawkers on the sidewalks to traders moving around with bananas in wheel barrows, peanuts in baskets on their heads or holding an assortment of TV aerials, wallets, belts …
My assessment is that it is safe, but not for the faint hearted.
South Africans should feel at home, with what appears to be good internet reception and a number of familiar shops including Shoprite, Spar, PEP, and even a Woolworths – but clothes only, don’t think Woolies foods.
The choice of cellphone service providers is more mindboggling than back home.
Zambia, probably along with most of the rest of Africa, is about to hit tough times. They rely on copper for 63% of their export income and copper prices have fallen through the floor.
The hard times are going to come with job losses – the mining industry employs about 50 000 people and at least 10 000 jobs are threatened. The bad news is that a number of people in the rural areas rely on income sent home by relatives working on the mines, and the suddenness of the global crisis impact means an unexpected decline in income for a large number of people in Zambia.
This is not the fault of the government, but the second-round effect of the global financial meltdown, unless one wants to criticise government for not diversifying the Zambian economy several years back.
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 04 August 2009 )
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